TARRANT COUNTY PHYSICIAN (17)
March/April 2021
here is a prospective
optimism that a new
year brings allowing a
“start over” positivity
that helps our collective
need to shed
T
and renew. Yet, before we burst out the
Champagne, we should process how we
got here as 2020 may well have been the
most challenging year of our lives, with
enough despair, wounds, and wisdom,
such that we are Turning 2021, metaphorically
speaking, of course.
We have been in the grips of a worldwide
pandemic that has upended our
personal and professional lives. Our
nation’s soul lays bare amidst a fight for
racial equality. As the pandemic rages on,
our mental health has continued to take
a hit. The chronic exposure to stress is
causing a variety of issues. The uncertainty,
lack of sense of control, and alteration
in our values and routines have given way
to anxiety. The successive, unexpected
changes brought on by the pandemic
have also been underscored by a series
of losses—our jobs, how we work, our
children’s routines, travel, finances, gathering
with family and friends, and simple
pleasures like eating out and entertainment.
This sense of loss over life as we
knew it has been a chief driver of depression.
When attempting to suppress severe
wildfire, there is a possibility for firefighting
crews to be overrun by wildfire, known as
entrapment and burnover. There are many
metaphors that come to mind when we
consider the toll of 2020 on our mental
fitness. Move over burnout. We are suffering
from burnover.
Turning 2021 might not feel like a
moment to see the glass as half full, but
a critical step towards restoring mental
fitness, and a favorite tool in the psychiatrist’s
toolbox, is perspective taking. This
is not meant to minimize the harsh reality
of an incredibly difficult 2020 with Pollyannaish
optimism. Many of us have lost
loved ones, friends, and colleagues. We
are sad, frustrated, and exhausted. But
as we reflect on 2020, taking stock of the
losses and triumphs, there were unmissable
silver linings:
continued on page 18
Creativity
Amidst the suffering, we witnessed heights
of human spirit and ingenuity. Rising to the
clinical and logistical challenges, we put
on our problem-solving caps to make the
most of a limited supply of Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE), ventilators, and
medications. When our hospitals reached
capacity, we built makeshift hospitals
and converted concert centers into giant
negative-pressure rooms. We served our
patients to the best of our abilities, embracing
the steep learning curve and everchanging
guidelines and information on
COVID-19. We held our patients’ hands
to give them a dignified sendoff when
their loved ones could not be there in their
last moments. Our creativity wasn’t just
limited to our professional lives; In addition
to doctor, we added teacher, caregiver,
coach, and other roles to our credit.
Technology
We went virtual. Sure, we went from one online
meeting to the next and had to scramble
for a bathroom break, but we found a great
way to safely connect with our patients,
parents, friends, and each other. When we
ached for culture, we brought Hamilton, the
Metropolitan Opera, and concerts streaming
home. We virtually toured cities and world
class museums, studying art masterpieces,
closely zooming in and out.
We flexed our tech muscles and found
other convenient ways to bring the comfort
of nourishment and shopping for essentials
to our doorsteps. It took a few months
to get the hang of it, but we joined online
gyms and live workout classes from home.
Our internet bandwidth made it possible
to meet the combined needs of work from
home, telemedicine, online school, and a
dozen devices streaming online platforms
simultaneously. We concurrently admired
and doom-scrolled the Institutional and
governmental COVID-19 data repositories.
Most importantly, we had real time information
about this pandemic on our fingertips,
(at times—perhaps too much information).
Community
We learned that gratitude and grief can
coexist. Our circles got smaller by necessity
and we became intentional about our
connections, out of which came bonus
time with family and pets (and plants).
Without our usual external outlets and
distractions, we turned inwards and made
time for introspection. We came upon
unexpected opportunities for nourishment—
we took up new (and old) hobbies,
games, books, podcasts, yoga. We
made a commitment to support struggling
local and small businesses. Even if the
presidential election of 2020 delivered a
powerful referendum on how divided we
stand, we found ways to unite over popular
fads and shows. We developed new
coping skills, and when these were not
sufficient, we leaned on our colleagues,
family, and friends for support. Meanwhile,
our scientific community also embraced
the challenge of 2020 with a promise of
a vaccine, which has been developed in
record time.
Priorities
There’s nothing quite like a pandemic to
make us reevaluate our priorities.
As physicians, we (finally) learned to say
no as self-care became more critical than
ever. We watched a third of the country
burn in wildfires and came to appreciate
the profound impact of our choices on our
environment. A discussion about Turning
2021 would be entirely remiss without
acknowledging the pandemic of racial oppression
thrust into the forefront in 2020.
The intersectionality of COVID-19 pandemic
and social determinants of health
has been underscored by the disproportionate
and devastating impact of the
pandemic on black, latinx, and indigenous
people of our nation. So, we committed
ourselves to the task of self-examination
and intentional antiracism. Out of activism
came a commitment to change for the
better with more progress on equity and
justice.
As the pandemic rages on, our mental
health has continued to take a hit. “